The present invention generally relates to using dispensing well plates (DWP) in combination with array tape.
The goal of high throughput screening is to perform many tests reliably, quickly, and inexpensively.
Reliability is linked to the ability to control process parameters and avoid contamination. For fluid dispensing, volume control is of primary concern. The DWP technology provides exceptional volume control with coefficient of variation (CV) of less than 5%. An example of DWP technology is disclosed in US2004/0074557 A1, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. Since it is also a non-contact technology, cross contamination is avoided.
The testing speed depends upon the total time of many sequential steps within the process. There are many strategies to reduce the total time such as performing steps in parallel, reducing the cycle time of highly repetitive steps, or changing the process. The DWP technology enables highly parallel dispensing from many positions at once (up to 1536), and the cyclic rate is also quite high (8-9 Hz). It is however important to notice that parallel dispensing from a DWP will have a fixed dispense pattern. For example, it is not possible to simultaneously dispense from an arbitrary subset of DWP wells, and reformat them into a different arbitrary pattern of target wells. A static reformatting can be established within the construction of a single DWP, but variable reformatting in conjunction with parallel dispensing is not possible. The issue of reformatting and particularly variable reformatting is crucial to the process of making combinations.
High throughput screening is the process of performing many tests. The tests are created through manifold combinations of source reagents dispensed and mixed together. The component reagents are supplied in individual containers. The containers commonly take the form of an array of wells or reservoirs. A key concept to grasp is that reformatting is necessary to create all the multiplied combinations. The result will be many target arrays from a few source arrays. The reformatting patterns used can be variable depending upon the needs of the experiment and the number of reagents to be multiplied. These variations will not always factor out nicely within the constraints of a fixed size source array and fixed target array. Using a DWP for variable reformatting requires using less of the highly parallel dispensing and more sequential dispensing. The trend to less parallel and more sequential dispensing decreases speed and therefore increases costs.